you may (or may not) be concerned by the contents of an email I
received this morning. (obvious political comment withheld)

PARK RETIREES: SECRET REWRITE OF NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
RULES WOULD ABANDON "PRESERVATION" OF AMERICA'S 388 CROWN JEWELS

Interior Dept. Political Appointee Push to Radically Overhaul NPS
"Rulebook"
Would Destroy Current Mission of Keeping Parks Unimpaired for Future
Generations

WASHINGTON, D.C.///August 26, 2005///An ongoing and secret Interior
Department attempt to rewrite and override 90 years of laws, rules and
court rulings governing the 388 sites in the U.S. National Park System
would "hijack" the American's national parks, leaving them wide
open for what are now barred uses and making it extremely unlikely that
the sites would survive as unspoiled treasures for future generations
of Americans, according to the Coalition of National Park Service
Retirees (CNPSR), which is a watchdog group of 410 NPS veterans
accounting for 12,000 years of collective park management experience.

Just days prior to the White House conference on the environment to be
held August 28-31, 2005 in St. Louis, MO, CNPSR today released a
redlined version of the Interior Department's radical rewrite of the
"rulebook" for the National Park Service. Spearheaded by a
political appointee who was the former head of the Cody, WY, Chamber of
Commerce, the hundreds of proposed changes to NPS procedures have been
drawn up with no input by Congress, the public or the superintendents
of national parks. The draft document is being made available on the
Web by CNPSR at http://www.npsretirees.org. Although the Interior
Department document is a work in progress that will continue to change,
it is considered by NPS insiders, Coalition members and other concerned
parties to be an accurate and extremely revealing expression of the
true intentions of the political appointees now running the U.S.
Department of Interior.

Under the proposed rules, the use of snowmobiles would be radically
expanded from currently limited levels at Yellowstone and other
national parks. In dozens of national parks and seashore areas, the
use of jet skis, ORVs, dirt bikes and other mechanized vehicles would
be permitted on a virtually unrestricted basis. At Gettysburg National
Military Park the rules would permit the rebuilding of an obtrusive
observation tower that recently was removed with broad public support.
At Great Smoky Mountain National Park and dozens of other parks, the
rules would permit huge increases in the number of noisy overflights
that destroy the natural peace and quiet. Britney Spears could hold a
major concert at Shiloh National Military Park or nearly any national
park since the new rules significantly increase the emphasis on
permitting public uses over the traditional mission of preserving
historic and natural places. At Shenandoah National Park, polluters
would get a seat at the table to decide how much they should be allowed
to impair the air quality and views at the park. Rather than working
with park visitors to minimize the problems posed by improper food
storage and other temptations, rangers would be forced to kill bears at
Yellowstone if they damaged private property.

Although experts in CNPSR and other concerned groups are still weighing
the likely impacts of the hundreds of proposed changes in the Interior
Department draft, it already is clear that all or most of the 388 sites
in America's National Park System would suffer major and possibly
irreversible damage under the rule changes.

CNPSR Executive Council Chairman Bill Wade, former superintendent of
the Shenandoah National Park, said: "The Coalition of National Park
Service Retirees opposes this astonishing attempt to hijack the
management of the 388 areas of our nation's park system and convert
them into vastly diminished areas where almost anything goes. Until
recently, both political parties have viewed the management of our
parks as 'off limits area' where partisan politics are set aside
and decisions are made based on what is truly in the public's
interest. These draft policies shatter that precedent in favor of
smash-and-grab politics that would weaken the preservation and
protection of the areas that previous generations have added to the
system. We should not trash the proud national park legacy that has
been handed down to us by our parents and grandparents."

CNPSR Executive Council Member Jerry Rogers, former associate director
for cultural resources of the National Park Service, said: "This
radical rewrite stands nearly 100 years of national park stewardship on
its head. Under these changes, the sights, sounds, and smells of
motorized vehicles would dominate previously quiet parks. No longer
would such impacts damage only Yellowstone and a handful of other
parks. These rule changes would unleash on our national parks an army
of off-road vehicles, dirt bikes, jet skis, powerboats, dune buggies
and the like. No seashore, reservoir, forest area or desert patch
would be immune from this attack and the result would be devastating:
the end of national parks as the last great places where America
cherishes the outdoors."

Wade added: "If the Interior Department tells you that this rewrite
of the rules is no longer on the table and that it doesn't really
reflect what they want to do, my advice would be simple: Don't
believe a word of it. Say whatever else you want about it, but this
is an incredibly honest document that exposes the true agenda of the
people running the Interior Department. Making a few cosmetic changes
and pretending to walk away from this draft, won't change a thing.
This document is the game plan and they aren't really going to move
off what, in fact, is their true agenda."

Today's document release is the second major "leak" by CNPSR in two
years of an internal document detailing plans to undercut America's
national parks. On March 17, 2004, CNPSR exposed internal NPS memos
directing park superintendents to slash summer 2004 park services and
then to mislead the news media and public about the cuts, which were to
be referred (and only if necessary) as "service level adjustments."
The ensuing public uproar led to a widely publicized March 24, 2004
hearing by the House Appropriations Subcommittee of the U.S. House of
Representatives.

Key points of the proposed NPS management practice changes are as
follows:

* Abandoning the primary mission of the NPS. For almost 90 years,
preservation of the Parks has been clearly established as the NPS'
primary mission. The NPS and the National Park System were created by
Congress in 1916. Congress at that time established that the
"fundamental purpose" of the Park System is "to conserve the
scenery and the natural and historic objects and the wildlife therein
and to provide for the enjoyment of the same in such manner and by such
means as will leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future
generations." Nonetheless, the proposed changes to NPS management
recognize a far more limited mission, one which would recognize
preservation as an objective only to the extent of avoiding any
"impairment" of the Park System's resources and values.
"Impairment" would be defined as referring only to permanent and
irreversible damage. Under this new approach, parks could be presumed
to be open for exploitation for purposes such as logging, mining and
oil & gas exploration. Entire species of animals could be extirpated
from a specific park as long as they could possibly be reintroduced at
some future point.

* Exposing national parks to extensive new damage. Currently, the
managers of national parks are charged with stepping in immediately to
protect the parks from any and all real or potential threats - both
internal and external. Under the proposed rules, park managers could
only take protective steps when "impairment" can be documented and,
even then, most likely only if from internal sources. Rogers noted:
"It is ludicrous to require a superintendent to wait to take action
on resources degradation until 'irreversible' damage can be
documented. The old aphorism about closing the barn door after the
horse gets out comes to mind."

* Eliminating virtually all limits on motorized access to national
parks, both on and off roads and trails. The Interior Department
rewrite of the NPS management rules consistently eliminates such
phrases in relation to national parks as "classrooms of our
heritage," "legacy we leave to future generations," and
"warrant the highest standard of protection." Instead, the parks
are newly described in a variety of ways consistent with the phrase
"repositories of outstanding recreation opportunities". This shift
in focus would open national parks to Jet Skis and other noisy and
disruptive motorized watercraft. Skiers on the rugged and remote Tioga
Trail in Yosemite National Park would be shoved aside by snowmobilers
who would be able to rip up the trail for the first time ever.

* Subordinating national parks to the agendas of individual cities and
states. The obligation of the National Park Service to serve all
Americans would be undercut by the substitution of words that
subordinate the broad national interest to narrow local interests.
Every reference to NPS "collaboration" with cities and towns near parks
has been changed to "cooperation." In this case, "cooperation" would
mean joint operation of parks with park neighbors, thereby negating the
superintendents' abilities to represent the broad interests of the
people of the United States as a whole when those interests do not
match narrow local interests, such as gateway communities that may be
intent on a Disneyland-like commercialization of "their" national
park. Additionally, NPS would be required to obtain the concurrence of
state agencies in several instances where the NPS now has clear
jurisdiction to act on behalf of all U.S. citizens.

* Eliminating the scientific underpinning of NPS management. The
entire draft has a decidedly anti-intellectual, anti-science tone. The
drafters' hostility toward sound science is demonstrated by the
elimination of all references to "evolution" or "evolutionary
processes." The word "qualified" is eliminated when the drafters
refer to park professionals who oversee the management of natural and
cultural resources. In several instances, the drafters eliminate
"scholarly analysis" as a prerequisite for gathering the
information necessary for park managers to make informed, sound
decisions. The rewrite also eliminates the current requirement that
there should be the use of "technologies" (science) used to protect
the parks, such as the current research going on at the Grand Canyon to
determine the extent of needed cutbacks on noise pollution from
helicopters and other low-altitude overflights.


ABOUT THE COALITION

The Coalition of National Park Service Retirees
(http://www.npsretirees.org) is made up of former employees of the
National Park Service (NPS), numbering over 410 and with more joining
each day. Many members were senior leaders of NPS and many of received
awards for stewardship of our country's natural and cultural resources.
In their personal lives, CNPSR members come from the broad spectrum of
political affiliations. As park managers, rangers and employees in
other disciplines, they devoted their professional lives to maintaining
and protecting our national parks for the benefit of all Americans -
both living and those yet to be born. CNPSR members have served this
country well, and their credibility and integrity in speaking out on
these issues should not go ignored.

CONTACT: Patrick Mitchell, (703) 276-3266 or
.

EDITOR'S NOTE: A streaming audio replay of a related news event will
be available on the Web as of 6 p.m. ET/3 p.m. PT on August 26, 2005 at
http://www.npsretirees.org/. For examples of possible impacts from
the proposed NPS rule rewrites, go to http://www.npsretirees.org.





This email was sent to .

On 26 Aug 2005 12:07:19 -0700, wrote:

you may (or may not) be concerned by the contents of an email I
received this morning. (obvious political comment withheld)

PARK RETIREES: SECRET REWRITE OF NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
RULES WOULD ABANDON "PRESERVATION" OF AMERICA'S 388 CROWN JEWELS

Interior Dept. Political Appointee Push to Radically Overhaul NPS
"Rulebook"
Would Destroy Current Mission of Keeping Parks Unimpaired for Future
Generations

WASHINGTON, D.C.///August 26, 2005///An ongoing and secret Interior
Department attempt to rewrite and override 90 years of laws, rules and
court rulings governing the 388 sites in the U.S. National Park System
would "hijack" the American's national parks, leaving them wide
open for what are now barred uses and making it extremely unlikely that
the sites would survive as unspoiled treasures for future generations
of Americans, according to the Coalition of National Park Service
Retirees (CNPSR), which is a watchdog group of 410 NPS veterans
accounting for 12,000 years of collective park management experience.

Just days prior to the White House conference on the environment to be
held August 28-31, 2005 in St. Louis, MO, CNPSR today released a
redlined version of the Interior Department's radical rewrite of the
"rulebook" for the National Park Service. Spearheaded by a
political appointee who was the former head of the Cody, WY, Chamber of
Commerce, the hundreds of proposed changes to NPS procedures have been
drawn up with no input by Congress, the public or the superintendents
of national parks. The draft document is being made available on the
Web by CNPSR at http://www.npsretirees.org. Although the Interior
Department document is a work in progress that will continue to change,
it is considered by NPS insiders, Coalition members and other concerned
parties to be an accurate and extremely revealing expression of the
true intentions of the political appointees now running the U.S.
Department of Interior.

Under the proposed rules, the use of snowmobiles would be radically
expanded from currently limited levels at Yellowstone and other
national parks. In dozens of national parks and seashore areas, the
use of jet skis, ORVs, dirt bikes and other mechanized vehicles would
be permitted on a virtually unrestricted basis. At Gettysburg National
Military Park the rules would permit the rebuilding of an obtrusive
observation tower that recently was removed with broad public support.
At Great Smoky Mountain National Park and dozens of other parks, the
rules would permit huge increases in the number of noisy overflights
that destroy the natural peace and quiet. Britney Spears could hold a
major concert at Shiloh National Military Park or nearly any national
park since the new rules significantly increase the emphasis on
permitting public uses over the traditional mission of preserving
historic and natural places. At Shenandoah National Park, polluters
would get a seat at the table to decide how much they should be allowed
to impair the air quality and views at the park. Rather than working
with park visitors to minimize the problems posed by improper food
storage and other temptations, rangers would be forced to kill bears at
Yellowstone if they damaged private property.

Although experts in CNPSR and other concerned groups are still weighing
the likely impacts of the hundreds of proposed changes in the Interior
Department draft, it already is clear that all or most of the 388 sites
in America's National Park System would suffer major and possibly
irreversible damage under the rule changes.

CNPSR Executive Council Chairman Bill Wade, former superintendent of
the Shenandoah National Park, said: "The Coalition of National Park
Service Retirees opposes this astonishing attempt to hijack the
management of the 388 areas of our nation's park system and convert
them into vastly diminished areas where almost anything goes. Until
recently, both political parties have viewed the management of our
parks as 'off limits area' where partisan politics are set aside
and decisions are made based on what is truly in the public's
interest. These draft policies shatter that precedent in favor of
smash-and-grab politics that would weaken the preservation and
protection of the areas that previous generations have added to the
system. We should not trash the proud national park legacy that has
been handed down to us by our parents and grandparents."

CNPSR Executive Council Member Jerry Rogers, former associate director
for cultural resources of the National Park Service, said: "This
radical rewrite stands nearly 100 years of national park stewardship on
its head. Under these changes, the sights, sounds, and smells of
motorized vehicles would dominate previously quiet parks. No longer
would such impacts damage only Yellowstone and a handful of other
parks. These rule changes would unleash on our national parks an army
of off-road vehicles, dirt bikes, jet skis, powerboats, dune buggies
and the like. No seashore, reservoir, forest area or desert patch
would be immune from this attack and the result would be devastating:
the end of national parks as the last great places where America
cherishes the outdoors."

Wade added: "If the Interior Department tells you that this rewrite
of the rules is no longer on the table and that it doesn't really
reflect what they want to do, my advice would be simple: Don't
believe a word of it. Say whatever else you want about it, but this
is an incredibly honest document that exposes the true agenda of the
people running the Interior Department. Making a few cosmetic changes
and pretending to walk away from this draft, won't change a thing.
This document is the game plan and they aren't really going to move
off what, in fact, is their true agenda."

Today's document release is the second major "leak" by CNPSR in two
years of an internal document detailing plans to undercut America's
national parks. On March 17, 2004, CNPSR exposed internal NPS memos
directing park superintendents to slash summer 2004 park services and
then to mislead the news media and public about the cuts, which were to
be referred (and only if necessary) as "service level adjustments."
The ensuing public uproar led to a widely publicized March 24, 2004
hearing by the House Appropriations Subcommittee of the U.S. House of
Representatives.

Key points of the proposed NPS management practice changes are as
follows:

* Abandoning the primary mission of the NPS. For almost 90 years,
preservation of the Parks has been clearly established as the NPS'
primary mission. The NPS and the National Park System were created by
Congress in 1916. Congress at that time established that the
"fundamental purpose" of the Park System is "to conserve the
scenery and the natural and historic objects and the wildlife therein
and to provide for the enjoyment of the same in such manner and by such
means as will leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future
generations." Nonetheless, the proposed changes to NPS management
recognize a far more limited mission, one which would recognize
preservation as an objective only to the extent of avoiding any
"impairment" of the Park System's resources and values.
"Impairment" would be defined as referring only to permanent and
irreversible damage. Under this new approach, parks could be presumed
to be open for exploitation for purposes such as logging, mining and
oil & gas exploration. Entire species of animals could be extirpated
from a specific park as long as they could possibly be reintroduced at
some future point.

* Exposing national parks to extensive new damage. Currently, the
managers of national parks are charged with stepping in immediately to
protect the parks from any and all real or potential threats - both
internal and external. Under the proposed rules, park managers could
only take protective steps when "impairment" can be documented and,
even then, most likely only if from internal sources. Rogers noted:
"It is ludicrous to require a superintendent to wait to take action
on resources degradation until 'irreversible' damage can be
documented. The old aphorism about closing the barn door after the
horse gets out comes to mind."

* Eliminating virtually all limits on motorized access to national
parks, both on and off roads and trails. The Interior Department
rewrite of the NPS management rules consistently eliminates such
phrases in relation to national parks as "classrooms of our
heritage," "legacy we leave to future generations," and
"warrant the highest standard of protection." Instead, the parks
are newly described in a variety of ways consistent with the phrase
"repositories of outstanding recreation opportunities". This shift
in focus would open national parks to Jet Skis and other noisy and
disruptive motorized watercraft. Skiers on the rugged and remote Tioga
Trail in Yosemite National Park would be shoved aside by snowmobilers
who would be able to rip up the trail for the first time ever.

* Subordinating national parks to the agendas of individual cities and
states. The obligation of the National Park Service to serve all
Americans would be undercut by the substitution of words that
subordinate the broad national interest to narrow local interests.
Every reference to NPS "collaboration" with cities and towns near parks
has been changed to "cooperation." In this case, "cooperation" would
mean joint operation of parks with park neighbors, thereby negating the
superintendents' abilities to represent the broad interests of the
people of the United States as a whole when those interests do not
match narrow local interests, such as gateway communities that may be
intent on a Disneyland-like commercialization of "their" national
park. Additionally, NPS would be required to obtain the concurrence of
state agencies in several instances where the NPS now has clear
jurisdiction to act on behalf of all U.S. citizens.

* Eliminating the scientific underpinning of NPS management. The
entire draft has a decidedly anti-intellectual, anti-science tone. The
drafters' hostility toward sound science is demonstrated by the
elimination of all references to "evolution" or "evolutionary
processes." The word "qualified" is eliminated when the drafters
refer to park professionals who oversee the management of natural and
cultural resources. In several instances, the drafters eliminate
"scholarly analysis" as a prerequisite for gathering the
information necessary for park managers to make informed, sound
decisions. The rewrite also eliminates the current requirement that
there should be the use of "technologies" (science) used to protect
the parks, such as the current research going on at the Grand Canyon to
determine the extent of needed cutbacks on noise pollution from
helicopters and other low-altitude overflights.


ABOUT THE COALITION

The Coalition of National Park Service Retirees
(http://www.npsretirees.org) is made up of former employees of the
National Park Service (NPS), numbering over 410 and with more joining
each day. Many members were senior leaders of NPS and many of received
awards for stewardship of our country's natural and cultural resources.
In their personal lives, CNPSR members come from the broad spectrum of
political affiliations. As park managers, rangers and employees in
other disciplines, they devoted their professional lives to maintaining
and protecting our national parks for the benefit of all Americans -
both living and those yet to be born. CNPSR members have served this
country well, and their credibility and integrity in speaking out on
these issues should not go ignored.

CONTACT: Patrick Mitchell, (703) 276-3266 or
.

EDITOR'S NOTE: A streaming audio replay of a related news event will
be available on the Web as of 6 p.m. ET/3 p.m. PT on August 26, 2005 at
http://www.npsretirees.org/. For examples of possible impacts from
the proposed NPS rule rewrites, go to http://www.npsretirees.org.





This email was sent to .

Is the author of this piece an unbiased reporter?

--
John H.
On the 'PocoLoco' out of Deale, MD

Gould,
Do you have any information to support this email? While it is something
everyone should be concerned about, it is too common for internet hoaxes to
run rampant on the internet and email distribution lists.


wrote in message
ups.com...
you may (or may not) be concerned by the contents of an email I
received this morning. (obvious political comment withheld)

PARK RETIREES: SECRET REWRITE OF NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
RULES WOULD ABANDON "PRESERVATION" OF AMERICA'S 388 CROWN JEWELS

Interior Dept. Political Appointee Push to Radically Overhaul NPS
"Rulebook"
Would Destroy Current Mission of Keeping Parks Unimpaired for Future
Generations

WASHINGTON, D.C.///August 26, 2005///An ongoing and secret Interior
Department attempt to rewrite and override 90 years of laws, rules and
court rulings governing the 388 sites in the U.S. National Park System
would "hijack" the American's national parks, leaving them wide
open for what are now barred uses and making it extremely unlikely that
the sites would survive as unspoiled treasures for future generations
of Americans, according to the Coalition of National Park Service
Retirees (CNPSR), which is a watchdog group of 410 NPS veterans
accounting for 12,000 years of collective park management experience.

Just days prior to the White House conference on the environment to be
held August 28-31, 2005 in St. Louis, MO, CNPSR today released a
redlined version of the Interior Department's radical rewrite of the
"rulebook" for the National Park Service. Spearheaded by a
political appointee who was the former head of the Cody, WY, Chamber of
Commerce, the hundreds of proposed changes to NPS procedures have been
drawn up with no input by Congress, the public or the superintendents
of national parks. The draft document is being made available on the
Web by CNPSR at http://www.npsretirees.org. Although the Interior
Department document is a work in progress that will continue to change,
it is considered by NPS insiders, Coalition members and other concerned
parties to be an accurate and extremely revealing expression of the
true intentions of the political appointees now running the U.S.
Department of Interior.

Under the proposed rules, the use of snowmobiles would be radically
expanded from currently limited levels at Yellowstone and other
national parks. In dozens of national parks and seashore areas, the
use of jet skis, ORVs, dirt bikes and other mechanized vehicles would
be permitted on a virtually unrestricted basis. At Gettysburg National
Military Park the rules would permit the rebuilding of an obtrusive
observation tower that recently was removed with broad public support.
At Great Smoky Mountain National Park and dozens of other parks, the
rules would permit huge increases in the number of noisy overflights
that destroy the natural peace and quiet. Britney Spears could hold a
major concert at Shiloh National Military Park or nearly any national
park since the new rules significantly increase the emphasis on
permitting public uses over the traditional mission of preserving
historic and natural places. At Shenandoah National Park, polluters
would get a seat at the table to decide how much they should be allowed
to impair the air quality and views at the park. Rather than working
with park visitors to minimize the problems posed by improper food
storage and other temptations, rangers would be forced to kill bears at
Yellowstone if they damaged private property.

Although experts in CNPSR and other concerned groups are still weighing
the likely impacts of the hundreds of proposed changes in the Interior
Department draft, it already is clear that all or most of the 388 sites
in America's National Park System would suffer major and possibly
irreversible damage under the rule changes.

CNPSR Executive Council Chairman Bill Wade, former superintendent of
the Shenandoah National Park, said: "The Coalition of National Park
Service Retirees opposes this astonishing attempt to hijack the
management of the 388 areas of our nation's park system and convert
them into vastly diminished areas where almost anything goes. Until
recently, both political parties have viewed the management of our
parks as 'off limits area' where partisan politics are set aside
and decisions are made based on what is truly in the public's
interest. These draft policies shatter that precedent in favor of
smash-and-grab politics that would weaken the preservation and
protection of the areas that previous generations have added to the
system. We should not trash the proud national park legacy that has
been handed down to us by our parents and grandparents."

CNPSR Executive Council Member Jerry Rogers, former associate director
for cultural resources of the National Park Service, said: "This
radical rewrite stands nearly 100 years of national park stewardship on
its head. Under these changes, the sights, sounds, and smells of
motorized vehicles would dominate previously quiet parks. No longer
would such impacts damage only Yellowstone and a handful of other
parks. These rule changes would unleash on our national parks an army
of off-road vehicles, dirt bikes, jet skis, powerboats, dune buggies
and the like. No seashore, reservoir, forest area or desert patch
would be immune from this attack and the result would be devastating:
the end of national parks as the last great places where America
cherishes the outdoors."

Wade added: "If the Interior Department tells you that this rewrite
of the rules is no longer on the table and that it doesn't really
reflect what they want to do, my advice would be simple: Don't
believe a word of it. Say whatever else you want about it, but this
is an incredibly honest document that exposes the true agenda of the
people running the Interior Department. Making a few cosmetic changes
and pretending to walk away from this draft, won't change a thing.
This document is the game plan and they aren't really going to move
off what, in fact, is their true agenda."

Today's document release is the second major "leak" by CNPSR in two
years of an internal document detailing plans to undercut America's
national parks. On March 17, 2004, CNPSR exposed internal NPS memos
directing park superintendents to slash summer 2004 park services and
then to mislead the news media and public about the cuts, which were to
be referred (and only if necessary) as "service level adjustments."
The ensuing public uproar led to a widely publicized March 24, 2004
hearing by the House Appropriations Subcommittee of the U.S. House of
Representatives.

Key points of the proposed NPS management practice changes are as
follows:

* Abandoning the primary mission of the NPS. For almost 90 years,
preservation of the Parks has been clearly established as the NPS'
primary mission. The NPS and the National Park System were created by
Congress in 1916. Congress at that time established that the
"fundamental purpose" of the Park System is "to conserve the
scenery and the natural and historic objects and the wildlife therein
and to provide for the enjoyment of the same in such manner and by such
means as will leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future
generations." Nonetheless, the proposed changes to NPS management
recognize a far more limited mission, one which would recognize
preservation as an objective only to the extent of avoiding any
"impairment" of the Park System's resources and values.
"Impairment" would be defined as referring only to permanent and
irreversible damage. Under this new approach, parks could be presumed
to be open for exploitation for purposes such as logging, mining and
oil & gas exploration. Entire species of animals could be extirpated
from a specific park as long as they could possibly be reintroduced at
some future point.

* Exposing national parks to extensive new damage. Currently, the
managers of national parks are charged with stepping in immediately to
protect the parks from any and all real or potential threats - both
internal and external. Under the proposed rules, park managers could
only take protective steps when "impairment" can be documented and,
even then, most likely only if from internal sources. Rogers noted:
"It is ludicrous to require a superintendent to wait to take action
on resources degradation until 'irreversible' damage can be
documented. The old aphorism about closing the barn door after the
horse gets out comes to mind."

* Eliminating virtually all limits on motorized access to national
parks, both on and off roads and trails. The Interior Department
rewrite of the NPS management rules consistently eliminates such
phrases in relation to national parks as "classrooms of our
heritage," "legacy we leave to future generations," and
"warrant the highest standard of protection." Instead, the parks
are newly described in a variety of ways consistent with the phrase
"repositories of outstanding recreation opportunities". This shift
in focus would open national parks to Jet Skis and other noisy and
disruptive motorized watercraft. Skiers on the rugged and remote Tioga
Trail in Yosemite National Park would be shoved aside by snowmobilers
who would be able to rip up the trail for the first time ever.

* Subordinating national parks to the agendas of individual cities and
states. The obligation of the National Park Service to serve all
Americans would be undercut by the substitution of words that
subordinate the broad national interest to narrow local interests.
Every reference to NPS "collaboration" with cities and towns near parks
has been changed to "cooperation." In this case, "cooperation" would
mean joint operation of parks with park neighbors, thereby negating the
superintendents' abilities to represent the broad interests of the
people of the United States as a whole when those interests do not
match narrow local interests, such as gateway communities that may be
intent on a Disneyland-like commercialization of "their" national
park. Additionally, NPS would be required to obtain the concurrence of
state agencies in several instances where the NPS now has clear
jurisdiction to act on behalf of all U.S. citizens.

* Eliminating the scientific underpinning of NPS management. The
entire draft has a decidedly anti-intellectual, anti-science tone. The
drafters' hostility toward sound science is demonstrated by the
elimination of all references to "evolution" or "evolutionary
processes." The word "qualified" is eliminated when the drafters
refer to park professionals who oversee the management of natural and
cultural resources. In several instances, the drafters eliminate
"scholarly analysis" as a prerequisite for gathering the
information necessary for park managers to make informed, sound
decisions. The rewrite also eliminates the current requirement that
there should be the use of "technologies" (science) used to protect
the parks, such as the current research going on at the Grand Canyon to
determine the extent of needed cutbacks on noise pollution from
helicopters and other low-altitude overflights.


ABOUT THE COALITION

The Coalition of National Park Service Retirees
(http://www.npsretirees.org) is made up of former employees of the
National Park Service (NPS), numbering over 410 and with more joining
each day. Many members were senior leaders of NPS and many of received
awards for stewardship of our country's natural and cultural resources.
In their personal lives, CNPSR members come from the broad spectrum of
political affiliations. As park managers, rangers and employees in
other disciplines, they devoted their professional lives to maintaining
and protecting our national parks for the benefit of all Americans -
both living and those yet to be born. CNPSR members have served this
country well, and their credibility and integrity in speaking out on
these issues should not go ignored.

CONTACT: Patrick Mitchell, (703) 276-3266 or
.

EDITOR'S NOTE: A streaming audio replay of a related news event will
be available on the Web as of 6 p.m. ET/3 p.m. PT on August 26, 2005 at
http://www.npsretirees.org/. For examples of possible impacts from
the proposed NPS rule rewrites, go to http://www.npsretirees.org.





This email was sent to .